27 Oct, 2022
Homeworld Mobile: Sci-Fi MMO
Homeworld Mobile is a real-time strategy sci-fi MMORPG with co-op PvE set in the highly praised Homeworld universe.We begin with our flagship and a small fleet that is thrown right into chaos during the tutorial. Here, the action is fast, the lore heavy, and we eventually end up at the Lazarus station where we can repair and try to figure out what just happened. Unfortunately, the tutorial is way too long and full of annoying boxes and arrows that do little to properly introduce the gameplay.
From this point forward, we take on missions to advance the story chapters and unlock all gameplay features. Don't expect to delve into the MMO features or any real customization options before having completed a ton of “go here, scan again, collect an item, retreat quickly or stay and fight pirates” missions.
When the game does "open up", it becomes obvious that the gameplay relies heavily on grinding RNGs or buying iAPs. Officers of various rarities are unlocked through a gacha system, ship classes are all tiered, and spending premium currencies let us get what we want without grinding mission rewards. Even choosing our Kiith, which is basically our family, mostly changes the appearance of our flagship – so our choice doesn’t make any real strategic difference. Unfortunately.
Homeworld Mobile is still new, so things like the tiny UI, the battery drain, and the crashes and bugs may get ironed out over time. But it still attempts to mostly just attach the rich lore of the original games to the same mediocre gameplay and uninventive pay-to-progress-or-die-grinding loop we’ve seen a hundred times.
Overall, there are much better open-world space MMOs that don’t feel like cash-grabs meant to take advantage of those looking to scratch an itch while waiting for Homeworld 3 to release. You might want to check out Saga Space, Vega Conflict, or Vendetta Online.
Note: PvP was not available at the time of this review.
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